1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system and in particular to a method and apparatus for displaying maps. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program product for optimizing the placement of overlapping markers in a mapping application.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, many applications use geospatial data to enhance the user experience. Geospatial data is information that is both geographic and spatial pertaining to a location of natural or constructed features, objects, and/or structures. For example, latitude and longitude coordinates are a type of geospatial data. Geospatial data can be used to enhance application functions. Many data providers are now tagging data with latitude and longitude coordinates.
In addition, the advent of mapping applications that are freely available to users, such as Google® maps, enable users to easily integrate geospatial data into a map display. For example, the Chicago police now plot the occurrence of crimes by the type of crime and geographic location of crimes across Chicago neighborhoods. As another example, Google® mapping functions permit users to obtain driving directions using maps.
When geospatial data is integrated into a map display, each location point associated with geospatial data is typically represented as a graphical marker, icon, or indicator on a map display. When large data sets representing a plurality of points are mapped, the markers may overlap. This overlap can occur where two or more points actually have the same location. In addition, overlap can also occurs where points have different locations but graphical markers representing the points overlap due to the zoom level of the map view. For example, where two points are located in different locations but in close proximity to each other, the graphical markers for the two points may overlap in a zoomed-in view, but appear as distinct, non-overlapping markers when the map is viewed in a zoomed-out view.
The overlapping of graphical markers representing points and/or locations on a map results in problems because the overlap hides or obscures some of the data such that a user cannot clearly view each point and/or location indicator. This overlap can cause confusion to a user attempting to locate a marker that is hidden or obscured by another marker.